car will only start in neutral

Dtrmnd2win · Oct 18, 2014

Hey guys, I have an 01 accord ex v6 and all of a sudden yesterday it stopped starting. When i turn the key while the car is in park the dashboard lights flicker and the car doesnt turn over at all. I had the battery and alternator checked and both are perfectly fine. I was researching this issue myself and found someone with a similar problem, but they said their car would start if they shifted it into neutral. I tried that and my car starts and sounds perfectly normal when started in neutral. Although the car can run fine that way, I still plan on getting this issue fixed. Does anyone know what could be causing this problem?

Thanks in advance.
Nick

Dtrmnd2win · Oct 18, 2014

note: the car also will start normally when jumped.

xci.ed6 · Oct 18, 2014

Starts fine in 'park' when jump-started?

coops-sedan · Oct 18, 2014

I had a similar issue years ago. The brake pedal switch could be bad. Have you noticed if you brake lights are burnt out as well? Does your cruise control work? If not I would bet its the brake pedal switch.

Dtrmnd2win · Oct 20, 2014

The cruise control works fine..I noticed that the brake lights are dimmer than usual. The car will always start on the second try in neutral..very weird..

xci.ed6 · Oct 20, 2014

You said it starts fine in N, now on the 2nd try?

I'm a pro, answer my ?s, or write more clearly initially, and answers you shall recieve.

Dtrmnd2win · Oct 20, 2014

Actually some of the details have changed since I initially wrote the post. As of today and yesterday:

The car will not start in park. No noise whatsoever when the key is turned.
If the car is started soon after it is turned off (such as arriving home and leaving 5-10min later) the car can sometimes start on the first start in neutral. Otherwise, the first start in neutral causes no noise to be made, and the car sounds like it is barely starting when the key is turned a second time, but it always manages to start. I have not yet tried to start it in neutral and had the second attempt fail.

xci.ed6 · Oct 21, 2014

Ok, get a DVOM, check battery voltage, KOEO, then again while cranking.

Then check voltage, at the starter, SMALL & LARGE wires, in N & P, while hitting 'START' with the key.

Checking battery tells you if it's dead, the starter will tell you if the battery wire is dead (lg) and if it gets signal (sm).